Friday, 16 August 2013

Supreme Court Judgment and Lessons After

August 29 is Ghana's Political Judgement Day. And as uncertainty swirls
around who eventually carries the day, it is certain that the effects of
the sentence imposed on the two NPP strongmen will ripple far and wide
in the country's political square. The party's General Secretary, Kwadwo
Owusu Afriyie, popularly called Sir John was yesterday convicted by the
Supreme Court of criminal contempt and fined five thousand Ghana cedis.
He was also bonded to be of good behaviour for six months and to
retract and apologise for his contemptuous words on Oman FM. Hopeson
Adorye, a member of NPP's Communications Team was also convicted of
criminal contempt for a similar offence and fined two thousand Ghana
cedis and bonded to be of good behaviour for three months or in default
face three months imprisonment.

The spectacle in the Supreme Court was
as serious as dramatic. The Supreme Court President, Justice William
Atuguba unleashed the full force of his legal Sledge-hammer to flatten
the culprits and wondered why the state should become anaemic to people
like them. True, it was Sir John and Adorye who tasted the bitterest
fury of the Presiding Judge. In reality however, politicians of all
partisan stripes, supporters of all personality traits and elements of
all ignoble proportions elsewhere met their match over their blood
curdling rhetoric and dish watery utterances which cause shackles to
rise and tensions to grow beyond tolerable level.

In all electoral
battles, the tongue can go ballistic once in a while. But in our context
nothing can rationalize the indecency with which political rivals swap
insults and the frequency with which they talk slovenly in public.
Indeed, Justice Atuguba spoke for all peace-loving and well meaning
Ghanaians when he attacked the goofy side of a few illegal political
miners who hold 24 million others hostage by their styles of politicking
which endanger national stability and imperil national security.

By so
doing, he won the overwhelming approval of the punitive response, of the
Supreme Court to deal surgically and ruthlessly with all such offenders
before they plunge the nation unto destruction. Strangely, the
political hierarchy of these offenders sometimes react at best with
furrowed brows. Other times, they defend the indefensible, all in the
name of party solidarity, this practice must end. Leaders of offending
political parties must weigh the possible backlash within their ranks
against the overall implications of their misdeeds on the entire and
act with swiftness and firmness to discipline their own.

The two
culprits before the Supreme Court had never lacked the verbal arsenals
to face their opponents any time, anywhere. But for the first time in
their career, they lost the temperamental where withal to hit back. In
the admission of Sir John, he was humbled by the baptism of fire
yesterday. Immediately after the hellish but humbling experience, Sir
John spoke to party supporters in a manner which reflected a man drained
of every pint of contemptuous blood in him and emptied of every acidic
words in his mouth.

A political born-again indeed. Politicians of all
sides of the political spectrum and people of all social strata must eat
a similar humble pie and demonstrate their new birth in politics. Never
again should our political discourse be characterised by curses and
noises but arguments and sentiments within the bounds of reasonableness
to win the hearts and souls of the discerning public. Sections of the
media which amplify and multiply unguarded statements by certain
politicians must also purge themselves of all acts of professional
irresponsibility and ethical misconduct.

Rather, they must scale up
their role in peace building and political tolerance. As the Supreme
Court prepares to pronounce its supreme verdict on August 29, we all
have a responsibility imposed by destiny to help matriculate Ghana into a
new nation built on the supremacy of the law, respect for divergent
views and adherence to the values of democracy.